LOS ANGELES:
Police forcibly removed several provocative pro-Palestinian protesters at several colleges on Thursday, including breaking up an encampment at UCLA in a riotous scene that underscored the heightened chaos that has erupted on campuses this week.
In the early morning hours, helmeted police swarmed a tent city set up at the University of California, Los Angeles, using flashlights and riot gear to push through lines of protesters who had linked arms in a futile attempt to halt their advance.
Los Angeles police said on social media that 210 people were arrested at UCLA and hundreds of arrests were made at other universities overnight and Thursday.
“I’m a student here,” one UCLA protester told the cameras as he was led away in handcuffs. “Please don’t let us down. Don’t let us down.”
Hours later, the student, who would only give his first name as Ryan, returned to campus and vowed not to stop fighting.
“We’ll be back,” said Ryan, who was cited for unlawful assembly. “We’re going to disrupt. We’re going to demand divestment.”
Students have gathered or set up tents at dozens of universities in recent days to protest Israel’s war on Gaza. Protesters called on President Joe Biden, who has supported Israel’s right to defend itself, to do more to stop the bloodshed in Gaza and demanded the divestment of schools from companies that support the Israeli government.
Many of the schools, including Columbia University in New York, called in the police to quell the protests.
Biden broke his silence on the protests Thursday after the UCLA raid, saying Americans have the right to protest but not to use violence.
“Destruction of property is not a peaceful protest,” he told the White House. “It’s against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking mosques, closing campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations – none of this is a peaceful protest.”
Biden, who is seeking re-election in November against Republican former President Donald Trump, has tread a cautious line as he faces criticism from both the right and the left over his Israel policy.
Campus Violence
At UCLA, police repeatedly urged protesters to clear the protest zone, which occupied a central plaza the size of a football field, before settling down.
Dozens of loud explosions rang out from stun grenades fired by police as protesters, some with makeshift shields and umbrellas, shouted “push them back” and shone bright lights in the eyes of police.
Live television footage showed police taking down tents and tearing down makeshift barricades.
Some of the protesters were seen wearing hats, goggles and breathing masks in anticipation of the siege, a day after the university declared the encampment illegal.
By morning, the square was littered with remnants of the destroyed camp: tents, blankets, food containers, a Palestinian flag, an overturned helmet. Police remained on standby for the first half of the day as the area was cleared of debris.
In Portland, Oregon, police entered the Portland State University library Thursday morning, where protesters had been holed up since Monday. Several dozen protesters ran out of the building and rushed a phalanx of officers in riot gear, who arrested them.
Police made more arrests at the library Thursday night as protesters tried to retake it. A university spokesman said it was a “very fluid situation”.
In New Hampshire, police arrested about 100 protesters in separate incidents at Dartmouth University and the University of New Hampshire overnight, breaking up encampments.
The protests follow a deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip that killed 1,200 people and saw dozens taken hostage, and a subsequent Israeli offensive that killed an estimated 34,000 and created a humanitarian crisis.
The campus protests have been met with counter-protesters who accuse them of inciting anti-Jewish hatred. The pro-Palestinian side, including some Jews who oppose Israeli actions in Gaza, say they are unfairly labeled anti-Semitic for criticizing Israel’s government and voicing support for human rights.
The ULCA crackdown came a day after the violent clash
UCLA had canceled classes for the day Wednesday after a violent conflict between the camp’s occupants and a group of masked pro-Isaeli counter-protesters, who staged a surprise attack late Tuesday night in the tent city.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, in a written statement, said officials allowed the encampment to remain on campus for several days because it was peaceful at first, but that clashes with the pro-Israel crowd clearly put students at risk.
“It has led to unsafe conditions on our campus and harmed our ability to carry out our mission,” Block said of the encampment. “It had to end.”
Taylor Gee, a 30-year-old pro-Palestinian protester and UCLA law student, said the police operation Thursday felt “particularly sad” to many protesters, given the slow police response the night before.
“For them to come out the next night to take us away from the camp, it doesn’t make any sense, but it makes all the sense in the world,” he said.
UCLA officials said the campus, home to nearly 52,000 students, will remain closed except for limited operations on Thursday and Friday.
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